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Episode 1379: There Are Other Leagues Than These
Date May 23, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Robinson Cano hurting himself hustling, Chris Carter dominating the Mexican League, the incredible continuing career of Ruben Rivera, pop-up dekes, a possible fun fact involving Orioles homers, the return of Ryan Feierabend (and an uncommon complete game), multiple improvements for instant replay review, and the significance of Carter Stewart signing with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the NPB, then answer listener emails about using Statcast for fair/foul calls, the most unique lineups in a single season (and league-wide unique-lineup creep, plus the most painful thing ever to happen in baseball history), and a shift in which the pitcher covers first, plus a Stat Blast about the gradual disappearance of games with more walks than strikeouts. Topics * Using Statcast for fair/foul calls * Games with more walks than strikeouts * Most unique lineups in a single season * Full shifts on slow players where the pitcher covers first Intro Run-DMC, "Hit it Run" Outro Jenny Lewis, "On the Line" Banter * Robinson Cano hurt himself while running to first base. Ben estimated that Cano's lack of hustle costs him only four hits per year and him hustling has been responsible for most of his career injuries. * Player hustle * Chris Carter's strong performance in the Mexican League * Ryan Feierabend was credited with a four inning complete game (due to rain). * Should batters try to deke out catchers on foul pop ups? * There are 20 MLB players with multiple multi-HR games this season. Four of those have come against the Orioles. * Sam argues that managers should not lose a challenge when an instant replay review is inconclusive and the call stands (but is not confirmed). * Top MLB prospect Carter Stewart signed a guaranteed contract with a team in the NPB and is eligible to be posted when he is 25. Ben wonders if more players might take this path to avoid the draft. * Scott Boras' contract loopholes * Ruben Rivera and players who have long post-MLB careers Email Questions * Jennifer: "I don’t know why I never thought of this question before, but why can’t the Statcast tracking system be used for replay, at least on things like fair/foul? If it tracks objects on the field well enough to show the routes taken by fielders and the trajectory of homeruns, why does it not track the ball well enough to determine fair or foul? Of course it might miss a play or two, but shouldn’t it generally work? Why do we rely on TV cameras, which sometimes have terrible angles (e.g., Brewers TV in the 7th inning just now)? Further, why don’t they just install TV cameras down both lines in every park?" * Steve: "Tonight the Orioles will use their 49th different lineup in 49 games. Is it possible to tell the most unique lineups in a season and to start the year? What are the chances the Orioles set a new record or even go with 162 different lineups?" * Jeff: "Last season, one of the many Bartolo highlight videos showed him “beating” Dee Gordon in a race to first base on a grounder to the first baseman. Given that we know that an overweight old pitcher can run 60-ish feet faster than a speed demon can run 90-ish feet, do you think we will ever see a full shift against Albert Pujols with the pitcher having the responsibility to cover first on any infield grounder? I would guess that roughly 100% of MLB pitchers could get to the bag in time to get set and receive the throw, although a pitcher’s muscle memory is only set to cover the bag when the ball is hit to the right side. Maybe a lefty who naturally falls towards first anyway at the end of his delivery?" Stat Blast * Sam's Stat Blast was inspired by a recent Red Sox - Astros game where both team pitching staffs walked more batters than they struck out. He wants to see which season had the fewest of these occurrences. * In 2018 the Houston Astros only had one game where their pitching staff walked more batters than they struck out. * This season there are three teams (Rays, Dodgers, Pirates) that have no games where they walked more batters than they struck out. Notes * Sam, on Ben predicting that Cano would injure himself while hustling, "I wonder if Robinson Cano knows that he is basically a video game character in a game that you're playing for pride." * In the live-ball era there have been only eleven four-inning complete games. * Gleyber Torres has four multi-HR games this season against the Orioles. * Statcast does not track the full trajectory of the ball and is currently unable to predict fair/foul designations with complete accuracy. * The 1965 Mets had 164 unique lineups. They had two games that were not completed and in each of those games had unique lineups. The 2018 Dodgers had 162 lineups. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1379: There Are Other Leagues Than These * Quantifying Hustle: How Many Runs Does Cano's Slacking Cost His Team? by Ben Lindbergh * Robinson Cano's injury * Chris Carter Mexican League highlights * Minor League Leaderboards * Ruben Rivera's Baseball Reference Page * Citing 'corruption' and 'fraud', MLB bans transactions with Mexican League by Jeff Passan * Ryan Feierabend Brought the Knuckleball Back to the Majors by Jay Jaffe * How Scott Boras Got Carter Stewart's Groove Back by Kiley McDaniel * How a 19-year-old prospect is turning the MLB draft upside down by Jeff Passan * Unique lineup data * How Teams are Maximizing Minor-League Options by Gerald Schifman * Bartolo Colon vs. Dee Gordon * Boras vs. Baseball - A Primer by Kevin Goldstein Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes